Duterte admin eyes boosting spending by 12% for 2018

MANILA, Philippines — The Duterte administration is planning to raise government spending by more than 12 percent next year as it seeks to maintain the Philippines’ growth momentum through investments in infrastructure.

The P3.767 trillion budget for 2018 was presented to President Rodrigo Duterte during a cabinet meeting last Monday in Malacañang.

The outlay, which is 12.4 percent higher than this year’s P3.35 trillion expenditure program, was approved by Duterte and the Cabinet as presented, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.

“I'm finalizing it now so he can submit the President's Budget on the day of his SONA on July 24th,” Diokno said in a text message on Tuesday.

The proposed budget for 2018 is lower than the P3.84 trillion original proposal of economic managers. This year’s expenditure program was lowered after the House of Representatives passed a watered down version of the tax reform bill.

The measure approved by the House is seen to generate P133.8 billion in additional revenues next year, lower than the P157.2 billion that the original proposal is expected to raise. 

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia previously warned that the envisioned golden age of infrastructure under the Duterte presidency may end up becoming a bronze age or even a dark age if the tax reform bill is not enacted.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the 2018 outlay, which is equivalent to 21.6 percent of the projected gross domestic product for that year, “is a budget that reforms and transforms.” The GDP is the sum total of all goods and services produced in an economy.

“The budget aims for a safer, greener, wealthier, and more beautiful country, making space for the youth, the poor, disadvantaged and handicapped,” Diokno was quoted by Abella as saying.

Abella said 29.4 percent of the budget will go to personnel services while 25.4 percent will be allotted to infrastructure and capital outlays. Local governments will get 16 percent while maintenance will receive 14.5 percent. The government will allot 9.8 percent to debt servicing and 4.5 percent to government-owned and controlled corporations.

Agencies and government entities with the highest allocations are the Education department, the state universities and colleges, Commission on Higher Education, Public Works and Highways department, Interior and Local Government department, Health department, Social Welfare department, Agriculture department, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Environment department.

Abella said the priorities of the expenditure program are to enhance the social fabric; to make sure that the entire budget is spent; make sure that the budget is people-centered; fair, just, and value-based; to reduce inequality; to increase growth potential and to maintain foundations for sustainable development.

The Philippine economy grew by 6.8 percent in 2016 and by 6.6 percent in the first quarter of this year. - With a report from P. Yanga